Three Indian players -- Shubman Gill, K L Rahul and Jasprit Bumrah -- were named in Cricket Australia's Best Test XI of the year, while star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was included as the 12th man.
Temba Bavuma, who led South Africa to their maiden ICC World Test Championship title and a historic 2-0 series sweep in India, also made the cut, while four Australian players were included in the XI.
'Australia, despite their squandering of the Test mace, have four players picked in this side having won all but two of their 11 matches in 2025. India also have four inclusions to reflect several strong individual years, while England and South Africa have two each,' said cricket.com.au.
Rahul enjoyed a dream run with the bat in England. He hit two centuries and two fifties amassing 532 runs while scoring another century against the West Indies at home, as he piled up an impressive tally of 813 runs in 10 Tests.
Gill made a brilliant start to his captaincy stint in Test cricket, leading a young Indian side in transition to a 2-2 draw and earning the Player of the Series award. He silenced his critics with a superlative show, finishing the series with 754 runs, the second-highest by an Indian captain in a single Test series.
He led India to a historic win with breathtaking knocks of 269 and 161 in the two innings of the second Test at Edgbaston and recorded the second-highest match aggregate in a Test.
The stylish right-hander also achieved several milestones, including scoring a double century as captain in England, becoming the first Asian captain to score a double century in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia) countries, and surpassing Virat Kohli's highest score by an Indian captain.
Gill was the leading run-getter in Tests in 2025, with an impressive tally of 983 runs in nine Tests at an average of 70.21, with five centuries and a fifty.
Travis Head (817 runs in 11 Tests) and Joe Root (805 runs in 10 Tests), who enjoyed a great run with the bat during the year, were picked in the best Test XI. Australia's Alex Carey was the choice as the wicketkeeper, while Ben Stokes made it as the all-rounder.
Bumrah was exceptional with the ball despite battling injury during the tour of England, where he picked up 14 wickets in three Tests. Overall, he bagged 31 wickets in eight Tests at an average of 22.16, including three five-wicket hauls.
His India team-mate Mohammed Siraj, who took 43 wickets in 10 Tests with two five-wicket hauls, missed out.
Pacer Mitchell Starc emerged as the top wicket-taker in Tests in 2025, having played all of Australia's Tests in the year in which he claimed 55 wickets, averaging 17.32 -- the only bowler to go past 50 wickets this year. His fellow-Australian Scott Boland won the final pace spot after an impressive performance in 2025, having claimed 32 wickets in six Tests, averaging 15.
Simon Harmer, who played a key role in South Africa's shock 2-0 series whitewash in India with a haul of 17 wickets at an phenomenal average of 8.94, was the lone spinner in the team ahead of Jadeja, who was named as the 12th man.
Best Test XI of 2025:
K L Rahul
Travis Head
Joe Root
Shubman Gill
Temba Bavuma
Alex Carey (wicket-keeper)
Ben Stokes
Mitchell Starc
Jasprit Bumrah
Scott Boland
Simon Harmer
Ravindra Jadeja (12th man)
© 2026